Pitchers dominate '08 Hall of Fame roster

The 2008 class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame would be the dream pitching staff of any coach in the country.

Among the new class announced on Wednesday are seven pitchers in the nine current-era selections and another in the Vintage Era class.

"As this thing unveiled, it was obvious that it was so pitcher heavy," Hall of Fame co-chairman Mike Gustafson said. "I don't know why. We had 67 voters and it just happened that way. Maybe all the hitters were already off the list. But you only have to look at their stats to realize how credible these guys are."

The 2008 class consists of pitchers Steve Arlin of Ohio State, Eddie Bane and Floyd Bannister of Arizona State, Neal Heaton of Miami, Burt Hooton and Greg Swindell of Texas and Ben McDonald of LSU, as well as coaches Dick Howser of Florida State and Gary Ward of Oklahoma State.

"It means a lot," Swindell said. "I guess you can say I'm accepting it for the university because without the university it wouldn't be possible. You don't plan on this when you're going to school, but when I got the news it was the pinnacle of my career. Since I know I'm not going on to the next level hall of fame, this is a wonderful thing."

When notified of the honor and who else was in the class, Ward, currently an assistant at New Mexico State, couldn't help but remember some of the players in the class when he first tried to get them on campus in Stillwater.

"Heaton, I recruited him heavily and thought I had him signed, and he went to Miami," Ward said. "McDonald, I recruited him and he ended up at LSU and pitched against us a couple of times. Bannister was the very best college pitcher I've ever seen. I'm very honored and very humbled and thrilled to be a part of (this group)."

The Vintage Era class, which encompasses players and coaches before 1947, includes former pitcher and coach at Seton Hall and Holy Cross, Owen Carroll, and a couple of names well known to baseball fans - former Texas coach Billy Disch and legendary major leaguer Jackie Robinson, who played a year at UCLA and two years at Pasadena (Calif.) College.

"It's interesting to see the way the public reacts to each class," Gustafson said. "Sure, the public thrives on the ones that have recognizable names which, in most cases means they had big-league careers. Obviously, we try to de-emphasize that and keep the focus on their college careers because that's the point here. This is a great class."

Carroll pitched at Holy Cross from 1921-25, compiling a 50-2 record. He coached at Seton Hall from 1948-72 and was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1977.

Disch, whose name adorns the field where the Longhorns play, coached at UT from 1911-39, winning 22 Southwest Conference championships and compiling a record of 513-180. He was a charter member of the ABCA Hall of Fame in 1966.

Robinson played two seasons of junior college baseball at Pasadena and a year at UCLA. In his last year at Pasadena, he hit .417 with 43 runs and 25 stolen bases in 24 games. He is best known as the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball.

The 2008 class will be inducted during ceremonies held July 4 at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center in conjunction with the city's Fourth on Broadway celebration.